Exhibits

100 Years of the College at Valdosta State Museum

The 100 Years of the College at Valdosta State Museum is located on the fourth floor of the Odum Library addition, this museum and presidential portrait gallery traces the 100-year history of the college that became Valdosta State University. It includes painting, display panels, and display cases. Part of the museum overflows into the VSU Archives. The fourth-floor exhibits are available any time the library is open, and the archives exhibits are available during our hours of operation. Other times may be available by request, depending on staff availability. Located on the fourth floor of the Odum Library addition, this museum and presidential portrait gallery traces the 100-year history of the college that became Valdosta State University. It includes painting, display panels, and display cases. Part of the museum overflows into the VSU Archives. The fourth-floor exhibits are available any time the library is open, and the archives exhibits are available during our hours of operation. Other times may be available by request, depending on staff availability.

South Georgia Folklife Project

The award-winning South Georgia Folk Life Collection is a ten-year, multi-genre ethnographic collection founded by Dr. Laurie Sommers in 1996. Highlights of the collection include Southeast Georgia Sacred Harp, Okefenokee Music Survey,  Flint River fisheries, Traditions of Turpentiners, Folkwriting, online exhibits, and a radio archives of documentary programs originally broadcast on NPR affiliates. Visit the South Georgia Folklife Project Website or here to browse Folklife photograph collection on Flickr.

Valdosta State University Archives Video Collection

The Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections houses thousands of videos in a wide variety of formats, including Umatic, Betamax, VHS, DVD, DV Pro, MiniDVD, and Blu-Ray. Videos include content created by Valdosta State University Television (VSU-TV), Ball games, lectures and speeches, Valdosta State University promotional materials, Valdosta State University Symphony concerts, and much, much more. You can search the Video Database here or visit our YouTube channel.

The Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections is committed to digitizing every video we have in our collection. If a video has already been digitized you will find a YouTube link to it in the Video Database. If you would like to view a video that has not been digitized and put online, please contact archives@valdsota.edu with your request and we will digitize it as soon as possible.

Babylonian Clay Tablets

Dr. Richard Holmes Powell, first president of South Georgia State Normal College (now Valdosta State University), acquired ten Babylonian clay tablets for the school's students to study.  The tablets, which are roughly 1.5" square, are imprinted with Cuneiform writing and are indicative of daily record-keeping in ancient Mesopotamia.  They were purchased in 1920 from archaeologist and antiquities dealer Edgar J. Banks at a total cost of $40.  Banks provided translations for each tablet, along with his personal guarantee regarding their authenticity.

The Babylonian Clay Tablets are on permanent display in the Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections reading room on the 4th floor of Odum Library. View photographs and read more information on the Babylonian Clay Tablets website. 

The Eichberger East African Art Collection

The Eichberger East African Art Collection was created by Willis George Eichberger who collected these items during his ten-year stay in Ghana West Africa and Ethiopia in the 1960's while he worked with the United States Department of State. The Collection includes are wide variety of trade carvings, traditional pottery, basketry, jewelry, gourds, cloth, weapons, some paints, sixties-era publications about the area of East Africa, and numerous slides and photographs of the are. The Eichberger Collection is displayed annually at the Azalea International Folk Festival held the first weekend of March at the Rainwater Conference Center in Valdosta. Browse the online Eichberger exhibit website or browse the Eichberger photograph collection on Flickr.

The Leona Hudson Collection

The Leona Hudson Collection held at the Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections contains information relevant to topics as diverse as South Georgia History, the Valdosta Social Scene, Missionaries in China, a history of devotional literature, Nazi trials, the military in Korea, and images from years of travel around the world. The collection spans a long time period, from 1884-2008, and is equally rich across those time periods. The Leona Hudson Website features access to much of this collection.

The Kessler Collection

African Art: United States Fish and Wildlife Service

Songye tribal masks and power figures from Congo, Africa. Seized by United States Fish and Wildlife Service while being smuggled into Hartsfield International Airport. Some pieces incorporated materials harvested from endangered species, which were removed. United States Fish and Wildlife Service donated these materials to Valdosta State University Archives in 2011. The African Art: United States Fish and Wildlife Service Collection is on permanent display on the 3rd floor of Odum Library. Click here to view photographs and drawings of the artifacts. Browse the collection on ArchivesSpace.

The Tatler-Burgess Collection

The Tatler-Burgess Collection is the fruit of many year of work by collectors Andrew and Kahy Tatler-Burgess. This exciting library of pieces, some of which date back to the middle of the 15th century, including woodcuts by Albrecht Durer and others offering glimpses of the artistic taste of the late medieval/early renaissance period. The Collection boast rarities of unsurpassed quality such as a leaf from the Saxon Chronicles and leaves from Sebastian Brandt's Ship of Fools, a very popular allegorical work in its day. Thirty items from the exhibit are on display in the William Mobley Reading on the Fourth floor of Odum Library in the Archives.

The Papers of Janice Daugharty Collection in the VSU Archives are an open collection. The reflect the work of a writer in the prime of her production; thus, material will be added to the collection periodically.  The collection contains handwritten and typed manuscripts of short stories and novels, edited copies of works, copies of published books, VSC college coursework, correspondence, newspaper clippings and publicity material, photographs and audio tapes. Browse the Janice Daugharty website.

The Joyce Ann Joyce Paper Collection consists mainly of correspondence with colleagues and students.  It also includes  a few photographs, articles and copies of all of her books. Although some items date to Joyce's childhood in Valdosta, the bulk of the papers are from the early 1980's to 2001. Joyce Ann Joyce was a star student at Valdosta State College during her time. View the Joyce Joyce Collection website.

Art in Odum